Long Time...No Blog!

Hello there! 

Remember me?

 If not...I totally understand.

 It's been quite some time since I shared anything here. I know I had been posting less and less over the past couple years and then last year I just stopped posting at all after June. In my defense, life was pretty busy. I went back to work at the very beginning of August and the first couple months of the school year are always extremely busy and challenging. Add a couple of students with some pretty bad behavior and this 49 year old (peri-menopausal...another story for another time) teacher was overwhelmed and exhausted. 

You might also remember that I was helping my daughter, Miranda plan her wedding. Throw in a bridal shower, all the holidays, my nephew's wedding, Miranda's wedding (February 2nd) and several other occasions between last June and today and my little old blog was totally forgotten about....until now.  Most of you are on Instagram and I love keeping in touch with you there but I miss those of you who aren't. And...I miss writing on this blog. I'm not promising anything, but I sure have missed showing up here. I really want to try to post here at least once per month. It will most likely be a recap of what I have been sharing on Instagram but I'm OK with that if you are. 

I was going to try to share some highlights from the past several months but I got overwhelmed when I started looking through all my photos. Trust me when I say life has been very good. I am still happily married...Joey and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary with an amazing trip to Walt Disney World. Miranda and Slade planned and paid for it all and went with us. It was a blast! Here's a picture from our trip of  Joey, Miranda, and I. 

You already know I am still teaching...this year I went with a dog theme in my classroom and love it so much that I am keeping it next year as well. Here are a couple pictures...of course I have rearranged a bit since these were taken but you get the idea. And as for the behavior students, it has improved significantly. I have worked really hard with them. I can hardly believe we're in our last quarter of the school year. I've been on spring break this week and have enjoyed it so much but now I am refreshed and renewed and ready to see my firsties. 

My son, Dakota has the sweetest and prettiest girlfriend now. Her name is Cheyanne. He is totally smitten and we really love her too. I'm happy that he is so happy. And of course, Miranda and Slade got married in February. The wedding was every bit as beautiful and wonderful and we had hoped it would be. It was such an amazing day. I will try to write a post about the day and share more pictures soon but for now...here's a photo of my family on wedding day....these people hold my heart.

And of course, I still have my Sadie and Rooster. They also hold a big portion of my heart. Here's Sadie keeping me company in my craft room and Rooster snuggling with me. He's such a big baby!

I also still love decorating and piddling around my home. I had put this love by the wayside for a while but have recently begun to take more interest in it again. I dearly love my home on Willie Mae Lane. Here's one of my recent projects...my mug racks Joey helped me build. I plan to display my seasonal mugs on them.

And that's about all I am going to share for now. I sincerely hope to post here more often. I'm feeling more like myself again most days. I mentioned peri-menopause earlier and goodness did it wreak havoc on me. I'm sure it's not over but I really hope the worst of it is behind me. I am so happy to be back. I hope to visit you soon as well. 

Until next time.....

 

 

June Happenings

Hello friends! Seems like once a month is about all I can give you this year. I just don't have a lot to share that I haven't already shared on Instagram. I know a couple of you are not on Instagram though so I hope you enjoy catching up. Here are a few June highlights.

June started out with my nephew Jacob's high school graduation. He will be playing lacrosse in Maryland and we are all very proud of him.

Miranda and I went to a bridal tea hosted by our wedding coordinator. She had lots of decorations for us to look at and decide if we want to use for the wedding. She had several things that we will be using. Here is just a few of the things she has. We will be using the 3-tiered table to hold the mismatched glassware we are using.

I cleaned my craft room up really well. It had been neglected at the end of the school year.

I celebrated my 49th birthday a few times with different friends and family. My friend Jeana made my favorite cake...she makes it for me every year! And yes, it tastes every bit as good as it looks! We also celebrated my son's 23rd birthday, my mama's birthday, and my husband Joey's birthday this month too. Juse is a busy month for our family.

I treated myself to a new crossbody purse for my birthday. I have been trying to be more mindful of purchasing fair trade items when I can. I don't purchase leather if I can help it either which also limits my options. I found this bag on Amazon by a company called Sherpani and I love it. It is made in the US so it is fair trade and an added bonus is the fact that it is made from recycled water bottles. 

Win! Win! 

I also bought an air fryer. I haven't used it too much yet, but I am hoping to use it more in July.

We celebrated my nephew Jacob's graduation a week after the ceremony at his favorite Japanese Steakhouse. It was a nice lunch out with family and the food was delish!

I have enjoyed catching up on some things around the house. I changed the saying on my chalkboard since it still had a spring saying on it. 

I'm enjoying my bohemian redo in the kitchen as well. 

I went to see Miranda again and of course since she's so close to so many beautiful beaches, we had to visit another one. This time we went to Grayton Beach and it did not disappoint. It was overcast and we both got sunburned though! Ouch!

Here's my beautiful Miranda...:)

After the beach, we walked around the quaint little town. Such a pretty place. 

This little bakery was adorable and so good! I definitely want to go back someday!

I have been reading more. I ordered this book and have been really loving it. It is so interesting to learn more about the toxins & chemicals in our environment, the products we use, and foods we eat that build up inside our bodies and cause so much sickness and damage to our systems. 

We celebrated Father's Day with a nice supper at my parent's house and I got to see my cousin's baby, Clarissa...she's a doll! 

Here she is with my sister.

I attended a couple different trainings for school. They were both really good.

I've also been working out as often as possible. Sadie has too....lol!

I needed to get this ready to post because I leave in the morning for a girl's weekend with my sister and friends. I am so looking forward to it. 

I hope this finds you doing well. I am hoping to blog about my weekend and another trip I have coming up next week with Joey. 

Thanks for stopping by and as always...take care.

May Recap

Hello and thank you for stopping by. It's time for my May recap. I can hardly believe this month is almost over. This year is nearly half over! May was pretty much a whirlwind...and the highlights can be seen on my Instagram account but I know a couple of you aren't on Instagram so I will share a few pictures here and tell you what I have been up to. 

I have been enjoying my plants. This little succulent has really grown since I repotted it. 

My angel face rose bloomed again. It is just so gorgeous!

My gardenia decided to burst into bloom over Mother's Day weekend and was full of open blooms when we returned from Miranda's. If you have never smelled a gardenia, you're missing out....they smell so good!

I have tried to enjoy my porch as much as possible because the heat and mosquitoes will prevent that from happening soon.

I spent a few hours at the springs with my sister and nephew as well as some family that was visiting from Utah. It was a beautiful day.

Joey and I took a mental health day off from work and went out for lunch and shopping. I had to admire this gorgeous mural depicting some of Florida's beautiful waterways.

Teacher Appreciation week was celebrated and we were spoiled at school with lunches and treats. I got a couple sweet gifts from students...this was one of them. So cute!

Joey, Dakota, and I went to Miranda's for Mother's Day weekend. We had a great time and I got to spend a bit of time on the beach. 

I was happiest having my family all together though. Blessed!

After that weekend, it was crunch time finishing up things at school. My last day was Friday and that was just for the District Luncheon honoring retiree's. I got my 15 year pin...hard to believe it's been  15 years already!

This past weekend was spent in Panama City with Miranda and Slade. It was an impromptu trip and my sister, Nancy went with me. It was a rainy weekend but we had a great time in spite of the weather. Here's a pretty shot of downtown Panama City...I love the historic part of town. We went to the sweetest little coffee shop.

Any time spent with my beautiful Miranda is time enjoyed. She is my heart. 

We had a great time visiting the local winery in Panama City Beach. Miranda and Slade are planning to purchase wine from them for the wedding and she wanted us to do a tasting. This was a first for me and it was such fun. This winery specializes in wine made with other fruits. They were all so tasty! I will be returning in the future. 

I have spent the past couple days running errands and getting some cleaning done. I got my hair cut earlier today and am now enjoying a little downtime before I get started again. I hope you all had a lovely May and are looking forward to June. Have a wonderful week and thanks again for dropping by. 

I know I say this every month...but  where did this month go? I can hardly believe tomorrow is May 1st...and this year is one third over! I am trying to post at least once a month and am scrambling to try to get my post up before I fall asleep. It's not even 10:00 PM but today was the first day of testing for my firsties and then after work, the hubby and I had to go buy some groceries. I was gone all weekend and didn't get to grocery shop. Needless to say, I am tired! Anywho, let me give you a quick run down of April.....

I have been enjoying my plants and my porch. I got a table from Miranda and am working on finding a couple more mismatched chairs to paint in different colors to put around it. So far I have red and green. I am adding a blue and yellow and then recovering the seats to match. I'm trying to be patient while I wait to find two more chairs. 

Joey and Dakota finished the race car. 

They put a new body on it for this year and it looks so nice! I will be going to watch Dakota race on Saturday night. I went weekend before last but they got rained out. 

I decided on my new theme for my classroom next year. 

Big surprise...my classroom is going to the dogs. :)

Sadie and Rooster gave their approval. :)

I had date night with the hubby...we ate at Bahama Breeze and then went to see I Can Only Imagine. It was great! We both really enjoyed it.

I  found a great deal on new drapes for the living room and I have been enjoying piddling around the house a bit. I will admit though, I have so much to do still. I have tons of stuff to donate and sell at consignment that is just piled up right now. I just haven't had time or energy to deal with it much.

My firsties were recorded saying the Pledge of Allegiance and will be featured on a local radio station. They were super excited!

Miranda and Slade recently moved to the Panama City Beach area and I went to spend this past weekend with her. 

Slade was working out of town so we had a fun girl's weekend. It was just what the doctor ordered. Her new apartment complex is just beautiful and so serene.

I saw my grand fur babies....Bell...

and Rizzo.

We ate some yummy food including Emeril's Coastal Italian where Emeril himself was in the kitchen. According to the waitress he is there most days and lives just down the road in Destin.

These beach pictures are actually taken in the Destin area. The beach there is absolutely gorgeous!

We had such a nice weekend and I look forward to going again. She's almost 4 hours away so I won't get to go too often but  every chance I get, I will. I discovered a great new podcast to listen to on the drive which helps the trip go faster. 

April was a wonderful month full of fun and memories and May promises to be the same. I only have 18 school days left with my firsties. I seriously can't believe this year is almost over. I am ready for summer break though and have a long list of things I hope to accomplish around my house. A really long list. Maybe I will share that next month. 

Well friends, I made it. I'm hitting publish just before 11:00! I hope you all had a lovely April ad that May is even better. Thanks so much for visiting and until next time....